Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2016 | Page 73
GROWING YOUR SYSTEM
Salessmarts
Big Data, Big Changes
Franchise development process must adapt
BY JIM BENDER
W
hat’s not to love about big
data? To paraphrase Sandy
Pentland, the big data guru
at MIT: The power of big data is that it
is information about what people do, not
what they say. It’s the digital breadcrumbs
you leave behind you as you move through
life. Those breadcrumbs tell the story of
your life. Who you actually are is determined by where you spend your time
and which things you buy. And from that
behavior, analysts can tell an enormous
amount about you.
We all look forward to the day when big
data will identify candidates who exhibit
the same behaviors as our best-performing
franchise owners. Fill up my inbox, please!
Today we can only imagine the impact
that lead generation techniques enhanced
with big data intelligence will have on the
franchise development and sales process. It
makes one think back to the last big change
in franchise marketing that had a significant
impact on the sales process. Several years
ago, many brands began to proactively
publish detailed information about their
franchise through expanded websites, brochures, white papers, third-party evaluations,
customer satisfaction ratings, social media
interactions, and more. We were immediately presented with candidates who were
better informed about multiple brands and
curious about the good, the bad, and the
ugly they had uncovered. Ready access to
information enlightened candidates, creating pressure on the sales process to deal
with a changing environment.
For those whose sales process evolved to
meet this challenge, the results have been
nothing short of rewarding. Our experience
with clients has been remarkably positive,
with all parties agreeing that today we deliver higher-quality candidates who deliver
better results than previous generations.
Here is a short list of the more significant changes we have observed in the franchise sales process in the past several years.
• From introduction to execution of
franchise agreements, today significantly
more time is spent with each franchise
candidate. Candidates arrive with more
knowledge about a brand, causing the sales
staff to cover more topics in more detail
than previously. However today’s conversations are no longer about how processes
and systems work. Leave the how-to to the
training team. More relevant answers outline our knowledge of consumer behavior
and weave the relationships among marketing, delivery, support systems, and the
brand’s position. Candidates are making
comparisons. This is your opportunity to
demonstrate that your brand is smarter
than others.
• The style and tone of the sales process
has evolved along with the candidate. Today,
sales teams make only two comprehensive
and formal presentations, both early in the
process: a comprehensive program review
and a highly targeted FDD review. These
presentations provide a solid understanding
of the business model, owner function, and
the opportunity to succeed. All subsequent
discussions take the tone of two experienced individuals talking about business.
• During the program review and targeted FDD review, talk 80 percent of the
time and answer questions 20 percent of
the time. During all future conversations,
listen 80 percent of the time and talk 20
percent of the time. Do not violate this rule.
• During future contacts make your
favorite questions: How are you going
to do that? How are you going to staff?
Market? Sell? Building an environment
where the candidate expects to present
to you (as opposed to passively listen) solidifies their understanding, causes them
to envision themselves as the owner,
and confirms their commitment to the
brand. More important, it prepares them to
present during the upcoming discovery
day meeting. (Is that a new idea?)
• Just before organizing a discovery day
visit, have the candidate describe in detail
their future outside of the world of busi-
ness. What is important to them? What
values do they hold closely? What do they
believe in? How do they define personal
(not financial) success? More than ever
before, the cultural and value match between candidate and company is the prime
criterion for awarding a franchise. Trust,
respect, and the ability to work together
are in greater demand by candidate and
company alike.
• Just a day or two before discovery
day, schedule a phone conference to discuss specifically what the candidate intends
to present. These meetings have evolved
away from store tours or show-and-tell
presentations. They have become interactive events with the candidate presenting
their understanding of the opportunity,
an outline of their development plan, and
examples of their ability and preparedness
to execute.
• Re-orient the top executives’ interaction during discovery day. Top executives
need not discuss how to become successful, but what to do with success; about
personal values and how success enables
good people to do great things—care for
family, develop the careers of staff members, or give back to the community. These
conversations support what the candidate
has learned about the people behind the
brand. And they provide an opportunity
for the candidate to describe how they fit.
Conclusion
It will not be long before the use of big
data identifies franchise candidates with
expectations more advanced than today.
Those expectations will pressure the sales
process to evolve further. Whether we use
big data or little data, franchise development will always be about making the
best match possible between the franchise
owner and the brand. Only when both
parties succeed can we say we have done
our job well.
Happy Selling,
Jim
Jim Bender is the president and